


All the Small Things

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 13:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: For an anon on tumblr, who wanted Harvey or Scottie sick at Harvard.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am not affiliated with and make no claims to Suits. Everything here is either fictional or used fictitiously.

“Harvey, that is the fourth time you’ve sniffled in the last twenty minutes, can you _please_ just blow your nose when you’re sick?”

“I’m not sick!” he replied defensively, crossing his arms across his chest when Dana offered him only a cold stare.

“Fine, then blow your nose when you mysteriously have allergies in February, or go home, if that’s too much effort. You’re being distracting.”

“You can’t kick me out.”

“Sorry, which one of us is the president of Law Review and which one of us isn’t even _on_ Law Review? Which of us is probably way behind on his assignment for HBLR and is only here right now because he thinks if he keeps me company he’s gonna get laid?”

“Your pronouns aren’t as neutral as you think they are, Scottie.”

“Bite me, Harvey. And stop sniffling for God’s sake.”

She turned her eyes back to the screen, sighing as she got back to work. Sometimes she really hated the tedium of Law Review, the huge amount of effort that went into producing this thing that no one _really_ cared about but would be happy to cite in fifteen or twenty years when someone in the class was running for office or trying to get on the bench. She wasn’t even remotely interested in an academic career, either. Running Law Review was, for all intents and purposes, a total fucking waste of time. But, Dana being Dana, she hadn’t been able to settle for less than the best, and so here she was, on a Friday night, “peer reviewing,” an article about some stupid Internet company she’d never even heard of, herself.

While Harvey sniffled. _Loudly_.

She waited it out a little longer, and dug a pack of tissues out of her bag to throw at him, but after half an hour she turned back to him, even though her work was nowhere near done, just because there was no _way_ she could concentrate.

“Ugh. Go _home_ ,” she commanded, frustrated. “You’re not doing anything, and you’re keeping me from concentrating. I’ll come over when I’m done but I cannot deal with your stupid nose one more minute.”

“Fine,” he declared, “if it’s so important to you, I’ll go. I know when I’m not wanted.”

“No you don’t,” she said, reflexively, but she turned to smile at him as he stood up, and…well, actually…

“Harvey,” she said suddenly, her voice softer. “Are you okay? You don’t look great.”

“I’m fine,” he told her, but he looked pale and not only his nose but his eyes were definitely red.

“No, I don’t think you are. Did you get a flu shot this year?” She paused before answering her own question. “Of course you didn’t.”

“I’ve never _had_ the flu,” he insisted. Dana rolled her eyes.

“First of all, that’s a lie; you had the flu last year. More importantly, _I_ have never had the flu, but that’s at least partly because I get a flu shot every year like a normal person who doesn’t want to get sick.”

“I’m _fine_ , Scottie, I just have a bit of a stuffed nose.”

“Harvey. You look like you’re about to faint. That’s it, you’re going home and I’m taking you myself.”

“Aww, you’re gonna nurse me back to health?” he teased, but his face belied his flippancy.

“Have you _met_ me? Are you familiar with how much _work_ I have to do? No, of course I’m not going to _nurse you back to health_ , but I’m worried about you so I’m going to take you home and put you to bed and, like…make you some tea, or something?”

“‘Make me some tea, or something’?”

“Well, I don’t know, Harvey, do you even _have_ tea at your place? I’m taking no chances. I might just be making you some hot water. Now sit back down while I put this shit away.”

He obeyed, which was telling, and she quickly shut down the computer and packed her bag back up, sighing a little to herself at how much she still had left to do, but – well, he was her _boyfriend_ , and this was what girlfriends did, wasn’t it?

\--

By the time they’d made it back to Harvey’s building, Dana knew she’d made the right choice and she really was almost worried about him. He was flushed, _definitely_ dizzy and, if her memory served her, he looked like he was about to hurl. As she busied herself in the kitchen, preparing the jasmine tea that she now remembered buying and leaving here herself last fall, Harvey wandered over to the bathroom, and shortly thereafter proved her right as the unmistakable sound of retching cut through the apartment.

“Okay, Scottie, you win, I’m sick,” he said, a bit forlornly, when he came back out into the living room. Dana shook her head slightly.

“I know you are,” she replied, walking over to him and handing him a mug. He glanced down and winced a little.

“It’s just plain tea,” she reminded him, and he took a ginger sip, drinking a bit more confidently when it became clear he was going to keep it down.

“I always forget how much this sucks,” he told her as she led him towards the bedroom.

“What, tea?”

“Being sick. It _sucks_.”

Dana kept her laughter in check and straightened the covers on his bed, holding them open expectantly.

“I know. Get some rest, you’ll feel better.”

“Are you actually putting me to bed?”

“Yup.”

He obediently got into bed, giving her a bit of a look as he did, and she shook her head a little when he curled into the fetal position and wrapped the blankets around himself like a burrito.

“Good night, Harvey,” she said, slightly ironically, as she left the room and closed the door, but apparently now that he’d lain down he’d lost the energy to tease her, and he said nothing. It was a little disconcerting.

Back in the living room, she looked around a bit, mentally gathering her things and trying to figure out the most time-efficient way to get back to the library – or, hell, to her own apartment – to finish up with the work she’d promised herself to complete tonight.

And yet…

Well, it was getting late, and being out and about but sober and working, late on a Friday night, was unpleasant. Maybe she should just stay at Harvey’s. He kind of owed her, after all; if she hadn’t been accommodating the night could easily have gone a lot worse for him. And his place was warm and comfortable and safe in a way that February in Boston really wasn’t. After entertaining a couple of protests from the independent part of her brain that really wanted to get back to the better computers at the Law Review office, or at the very least sleep in her own bed, she decided to stay, opening her bag and spreading her work out on the coffee table.

Dana had slept at Harvey’s apartment plenty of times over the past two years, but sleeping on his couch was a new experience. While it did come with a delightful freedom from Harvey’s tendency to get handsy in his sleep, she didn’t think she wanted to repeat it anytime soon, she decided, as she got up and stretched, rolling her shoulders carefully before tiptoeing back to the kitchen to make herself coffee. As it was brewing she rummaged through the cabinets, and, sure, Life cereal sounded fine. Dry, because she was suspicious of any perishable goods in Harvey’s fridge.

She cleaned up after she’d finished eating and hung around the kitchen a little bit awkwardly, drying out the plastic bowl she’d eaten from much more thoroughly than was necessary. She had more work to do, a decent portion of which she had to go back to the library to finish. And Harvey was, after all, a grown man whom she could fairly expect to take care of himself. It was just the flu. She was his girlfriend, not his live-in nurse.

And yet…

She walked over to the bedroom and knocked gently on the doorframe, quietly turning the knob and stepping inside when there was no response. Harvey lay on his stomach, his head turned to the side as he snored. Dana looked down at him a bit uncertainly and lightly brushed the inside of her wrist against his forehead. He felt warm – but he was supposed to be warm, right? And she didn’t think he felt _hot_ – did that mean he didn’t have a fever? She had seen Mom do it a thousand times, but still had no real idea what she was feeling for. Suddenly he started to stir, and she pulled away guiltily, embarrassed even though she really hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Scottie?” he said groggily, his voice thick. “I don’t…did you…?”

“I stayed over,” she answered, forcing herself to sound casual. “It was late and I didn’t feel like going back to the library.” She paused. “Are you feeling any better?”

“I feel like garbage,” he admitted ruefully. Dana bit her lip.

“I can make you some more tea before I go,” she said uncertainly. “Or…well…I don’t know. I could get you some…Advil?”

Harvey started laughing, but it quickly gave way to coughing, and she shifted nervously, not sure what she was supposed to do.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Your bedside manner,” he informed her, once he’d managed a few deep breaths. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you be truly _terrible_ at anything.”

“Hey, I got you home, didn’t I?” she protested. “I made you tea. I put you to bed.” He smirked at her and she sighed.

“Fine, I don’t really know how to do this, okay? I’m just kind of…winging it. I’m sorry I don’t live up to your _exacting standards_ , but come on, I never said I was good at…whatever this is.” She sighed again. “I just don’t want you to be sick.”

“Me neither. And…you know…thanks. For making me go home last night, and everything.”

“I mean, you looked like you were going to pass out.”

“Felt like it, too,” he admitted wryly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” He paused. “You know, as long as you’re volunteering, could you maybe go to the CVS around the corner and get me some cold medicine? You’ll recognize it by the label that says, ‘cold medicine.’”

“Thanks, Harvey,” she said, slightly sarcastically, but she smiled as she firmly resisted the urge to ruffle his hair. “Sure, I’ll get you cold medicine. Do you…need anything else? I do have a shit-ton of work to get done, so…”

“Nah, cold medicine and a glass of water should be good,” he assured her. “I’m probably just going back to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Dana looked down at her hands for a moment, trying to will herself not to…but she couldn’t help it, and she bent quickly to kiss him on the forehead, almost literally feeling herself turn into her mother as she did so. He smiled nicely, though – Harvey always enjoyed affection more than he wanted to let on – and she took off for the CVS that really was just around the corner. The collection of cold medicine was a little overwhelming, but they all seemed to have the same ingredients so she figured the store brand was okay and, impulsively, picked up a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies.

When she got back to Harvey’s he was already asleep again, and she shook her head at the fact that he’d tried to treat the day before like any other Friday. Then she poured him a glass of water and put it, the cold medicine, and the cookies on the nightstand next to his bed – and finally indulged herself, running her fingers through his hair as she listened to his labored breathing.

He was a grown man. He’d be okay. She _knew_ it.

Turned out Harvey’s couch was even less comfortable the second night.


End file.
